We use cookies to improve your website experience. To learn about our use of cookies and how you can manage your cookie settings, please see our Cookie Policy. By closing this message, you
are consenting to our use of cookies.

New e-cigarette laws could drive some users to smoke more cigarettes

15th July 2019

Could new laws encourage users to smoke more cigarettes than usual?

Making e-cigs less appealing to youth may have unintended effects on existing users

DURHAM, N.C. — Efforts by the FDA and some cities to limit the availability and appeal of e-cigarettes to young users could drive some existing users to smoke more tobacco cigarettes to get their fix, according to new research from Duke Health.

The findings, from a survey of 240 young U.S. adults who use both e-cigarettes and traditional tobacco cigarettes, are scheduled to be published July 15 in the journal Substance Use & Misuse.

“The FDA now has regulatory authority over all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes and we know that some communities have taken action to ban flavored e-cigarette products,” said Lauren Pacek, Ph.D., the study’s lead author and an assistant professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke.

“We wanted to take a first pass at seeing what users’ anticipated responses to new regulations might be,” Pacek said. “Our findings suggest that while some regulations, such as banning certain flavors to limit appeal to adolescents, might improve outcomes for those young users, the new regulations might have unintended consequences with other portions of the population.”

The online survey asked participants aged 18 to 29 to predict their use of two products they already used — e-cigarettes and traditional tobacco cigarettes — in response to hypothetical regulations to limit e-cigarette flavors, limit the customizability of e-cigarettes or eliminate the nicotine in e-cigarettes.

About 47 percent of respondents said if regulations eliminated the nicotine in e-cigarettes, they wouldn’t use e-cigs as much and would increase their use of traditional cigarettes.

About 22 percent said if regulations limited the customizability of devices, such as features allowing users to adjust nicotine dose or vapor temperature, they would use e-cigs less and smoke more tobacco cigarettes.

About 17 percent said if e-cigarettes were to be limited to tobacco and menthol flavors, they wouldn’t use e-cigs as much and they would smoke more tobacco cigarettes.

According to other research on e-cigarette use, about a third of people who use e-cigarettes also use other tobacco products, Pacek said. For instance, some smokers might use an e-cigarette where tobacco smoking is not allowed, such as at work or a restaurant.

The survey was small and not designed to predict the behavior of e-cigarette users across the U.S., Pacek said. However, the data suggest that when considering changes to e-cigarettes, such as limiting fruity flavors proven to appeal to youth, that regulators also consider the downstream effects of new regulations on other users.

“It’s likely some potential new regulations on e-cigarettes will result in a net good for the whole population, such as limiting flavors that might entice young users, improving safety standards, or mandating that liquids come in child-proof containers,” Pacek said. “However, our findings suggest that there should also be thoughtful consideration to potential unintended consequences that could affect other subsets of users of e-cigarettes and other tobacco products.”

Pacek and other researchers at the Duke University Center for Addiction Science and Technology are continuing research on e-cigarette use, including an in-depth study tracking participants’ use of various tobacco products in response to potential regulations such as those posed by the online survey.

In addition to Pacek, study authors include Olga Rass, Maggie M. Sweitzer, Jason A. Oliver, and F. Joseph McClernon. The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health (K01DA043413, K23DA039294 and K23DA042898). The authors did not disclose any potential conflicts of interest.

Books contacts

A 425-million-year-old millipede fossil found in Scotland is the world's oldest known fossil of an insect or arachnid. Researchers have published their exciting new findings in Historical Biology [Read more...]

3

1

3 days ago

We are excited to announce have integrated into their #manuscriptsubmission processes with . More here: [Read more...]

0

0

5 days ago

Does #pregnancy affect #memory? This article, in the news, compared control participants with those in their third trimester of pregnancy to find out... #Neuropsychology [Read more...]

1

2

9 days ago

What can modern scientists, looking for a #COVID19 vaccine, learn from Edward Jenner? This article looks at the history of smallpox
and vaccination
[Read more...]

0

1

9 days ago

How will #sports be after #COVID19? This article examines role of the media and how it affects sports #socialmedia #golf [Read more...]

2

0

10 days ago

A recent study of people in Singapore who had contracted SARS in the early aughts found they retain “significant levels of neutralizing antibodies” for nine to 17 years after initial infection [Read more...]

0

0

11 days ago

This study found that shields worn by a test subject within 1.8 metres of a cough reduced inhaled influenza virus by 92%, although this protective effect reduced after the cough had dispersed for 30 minutes [Read more...]

2

0

17 days ago

This new research shows that people believe they're less likely than others are to fall for online scams. The cybersecurity study has significant implications as we increasingly work remotely during #COVID19 pandemic [Read more...]

0

1

17 days ago

The number of Asian Hornets, Vespa mandarinia, is on the rise in North America. This study shows just how potentially lethal they are with 30 to 50 people dying each year in Japan alone [Read more...]

0

0

18 days ago

Looking at 315,000 children, this new study out today suggests that childhood obesity raises bladder cancer risk. The findings could help scientists improve their understanding of what triggers bladder cancer [Read more...]